Question by Daniel: I am 14 and I like to read fantasy books and also murder mystery. I am obviously at a teen age reading level. ?
I like to read. Any suggestions on what to read. I am currently reading a murder mystery book call stormbreaker and the author is Anthony Horowitz if that help. Any suggestions on what I might like? Thanks.

Best answer:

Answer by SterlakeI loved this series and I think you will too, called Thirst, a vampire book , with LOTS of action and blood.
3 books in the series. Author: Christopher Pike or something like that

Question by Kendra: Books that are set in Ancient China?
I am heading to the beach tomorrow and sadly my supply of books has dwindled down to 2 books (and both are way too thick to be lugging to the beach for a bit of light reading).
So last night I watched the movie ‘Shaolin’ with Andy Lau and it was fantastic! I have always loved historical action movies.
So I thought, since I enjoyed this movie, I might enjoy a book set in ancient china. But one that is a work of fiction (it can have parts that are actual true historical fact) but I always like when an author takes history and makes it their own.
So a work of fiction, set in ancient china, that is hopefully not a romance. I’m looking more for a book about an epic war/action/mystery. To try to put it into words, I’m looking for something like Games of Thrones, only in Ancient China. Conflict, death, conspiracy, affairs, war, etc.

Best answer:

Answer by Reeree-sanI think you’d like Romance of the Three Kingdoms (NOT a romance in the modern sense) but it’s also too hefty for the beach!

The same is true of the modern novel Under Heaven by Gay Gavriel Kay which also seems to fit your requirements – well, epics do tend to be long.

Perhaps you’d like a retelling of Journey to the West – often titled Monkey or The Monkey King.

Question by Reincarnation is a fact: Have you read any of these paranormal books?
RANDI’S PRIZE: What sceptics say about the paranormal, why they are wrong and why it matters
Science and the Afterlife Experience: Evidence for the Immortality of Consciousness
The End of Materialism: How Evidence of the Paranormal Is Bringing Science and Spirit
The Reality of ESP: A Physicist’s Proof of Psychic Abilities

I you did, tell me what you think. I’m really considering it!
eri- I disagree. I think a good book can provide evidence of something
If a book is based on FACTS then it can be evidence

Best answer:

Answer by eriA book isn’t evidence of anything. Anyone can publish a book saying whatever you want. There’s no oversight process to make sure what you’re saying is true. Academic journals have a much higher standard for evidence, which is why you don’t see this stuff showing up in top journals – no one making those claims has the evidence to support them. If those things were real, it would be very easy to prove. No one ever has.

Question by Lightning: Does anyone have access to any of the books in Orson Scott Card’s Women of Genesis series?
If you do, could you tell me whether there’s a bibliography in the back of the books? And if so, what books are listed in the bibliography?

Thanks.

Best answer:

Answer by DocYou can look up the book on Amazon dot com, look inside the book, and get the information you want. There doesn’t seem to be a bibliography, per se, but I think I see what you want. For example, in the “Afterward” section of “Sarah” we find these words at the end of the book, on pages 340-341,

“Here are some of the sources I used in preparing this book. They are all interesting and valuable books, even if I often drew conclusions that the authors might not have been pleased with, and even though some of the scholars, at least, were quite avidly of the rejectionist camp. I consulted many other books, but these were the ones I found most useful and trustworthy, and I intend to use again as sources.
Donald B. Redford, “Egypt, Canaan, and Israel in Ancient Times” (Princeton University Press, 1992)
Gosta W. Ahlstrom, “The History of Ancient Palestine” (Sheffield Academic Press/Fortress Press, 1993, 1994)
Gay Robins, “Women in Ancient Egypt” (Harvard University Press, 1993)
Michael Rice, “Egypt’s Making: The Origins of Ancient Egypt, 5000-2000 B.C. (Routledge, 1990)
And for those who do not immediately recognize the source of some of the events early in the novel, those are based on the book of Abraham in the “Pearl of Great Price, a book of scripture recognized only within the LDS Church.
Peter James and Nick Thorp, “Ancient Mysteries (Ballantine, 1999). The great care these authors took in verifying speculation and drawing evidence from many disciplines made this a fascinating and useful tool—especially concerning the location of Sodom and the events surrounding its destruction.
If you have questions or comments about any aspect of this novel, you are invited to visit http://www.hatrack.com or http://www.nauvoo.com. “

I didn’t see any kind of bibliography or Afterward for “Rebecca,” just a kind of study guide. There was some information in the Preface, however. Orson Card wrote on page vii:

“I used all the sources that previously helped me in writing “Sarah,” the companion volume to this book, and in addition, Norman L. Heap’s “Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob: Servants and Prophets of God”) Family History Publications, Greensboro NC, 1986, 1999)….

As for “Rachel and Leah,” there is an “Afterward,” but I couldn’t look at all of it. What I saw did not seem to indicate more bibliography. I saw no “Preface” to this book. What you see in these “Look inside” is rather random.

Question by ClaudeandBuddy: Is there a place in Lee’s Summit to donate old hardback books?

Best answer:

Answer by matt manThis article is about the concept of time. For the magazine, see Time (magazine). For other uses, see Time (disambiguation).

Sunrise shown in time lapse.
The motions of Sun and Moon have demonstrated and symbolized time throughout humanity’s existence.[1]
The flow of sand in an hourglass can be used to keep track of elapsed time. It also concretely represents the present as being between the past and the future.Time is a component of the measuring system used to sequence events, to compare the durations of events and the intervals between them, and to quantify the motions of objects. Time has been a major subject of religion, philosophy, and science, but defining time in a non-controversial manner applicable to all fields of study has consistently eluded the greatest scholars.

In physics and other sciences, time is considered one of the few fundamental quantities.[2] Time is used to define other quantities – such as velocity – and defining time in terms of such quantities would result in circularity of definition.[3] An operational definition of time, wherein one says that observing a certain number of repetitions of one or another standard cyclical event (such as the passage of a free-swinging pendulum) constitutes one standard unit such as the second, has a high utility value in the conduct of both advanced experiments and everyday affairs of life. The operational definition leaves aside the question whether there is something called time, apart from the counting activity just mentioned, that flows and that can be measured. Investigations of a single continuum called space-time brings the nature of time into association with related questions into the nature of space, questions that have their roots in the works of early students of natural philosophy.

Among prominent philosophers, there are two distinct viewpoints on time. One view is that time is part of the fundamental structure of the universe, a dimension in which events occur in sequence. Sir Isaac Newton subscribed to this realist view, and hence it is sometimes referred to as Newtonian time.[4][5] The opposing view is that time does not refer to any kind of “container” that events and objects “move through”, nor to any entity that “flows”, but that it is instead part of a fundamental intellectual structure (together with space and number) within which humans sequence and compare events. This second view, in the tradition of Gottfried Leibniz[6] and Immanuel Kant,[7][8] holds that time is neither an event nor a thing, and thus is not itself measurable.

Temporal measurement has occupied scientists and technologists, and was a prime motivation in navigation and astronomy. Periodic events and periodic motion have long served as standards for units of time. Examples include the apparent motion of the sun across the sky, the phases of the moon, the swing of a pendulum, and the beat of a heart. Currently, the international unit of time, the second, is defined in terms of radiation emitted by caesium atoms (see below). Time is also of significant social importance, having economic value (“time is money”) as well as personal value, due to an awareness of the limited time in each day and in human lifespans.

Contents [hide]
1 Temporal measurement
1.1 History of the calendar
1.2 History of time measurement devices
2 Definitions and standards
2.1 World time
2.2 Sidereal time
2.3 Chronology
3 Time in religion and mythology
3.1 Linear and cyclical time
4 Time in philosophy
4.1 Time as “unreal”
5 Time in the physical sciences
5.1 Time in classical mechanics
5.2 Time in modern physics
5.3 Spacetime
5.4 Time dilation
5.5 Relativistic time versus Newtonian time
5.6 Arrow of time
5.7 Quantised time
6 Time and the Big Bang
6.1 Speculative physics beyond the Big Bang
7 Time travel
8 Perception of time
8.1 Time in psychology
8.2 Time in altered states of consciousness
8.3 Culture
9 Use of time
10 See also
10.1 Books
10.2 Organizations
10.3 Miscellaneous arts and sciences
10.4 Miscellaneous units of time
11 Notes and references
12 Further reading
13 External links
13.1 Perception of time
13.2 Physics
13.3 Philosophy
13.4 Timekeeping
13.5 Miscellaneous
14 Navigation templates

[edit] Temporal measurement
Temporal measurement, or chronometry, takes two distinct period forms: the calendar, a mathematical abstraction for calculating extensive periods of time,[9] and the clock, a concrete mechanism that counts the ongoing passage of time. In day-to-day life, the clock is consulted for periods less than a day, the calendar, for periods longer than a day.

[edit] History of the calendar
Main article: Calendar
Artifacts from the Palaeolithic suggest that the moon was used to calculate time as early as 12,000, and possibly even 30,000 BP.[1]

The Sumerian civilization of approximately 2000 BC introduced the sexagesimal system based on the number 60. 60 seconds in a minute, 60 minutes in an hour – and possibly a calendar with 360 (60×6) days in a year (with a few more days added on). Twelve also features prominently, with roughly 12 hours of day and 12 of night, and 12 months in a year (with 12 being 1/5 of 60).

The reforms of Julius Caesar in 45 BC put the Roman world on a solar calendar. This Julian calendar was faulty in that its intercalation still allowed the astronomical solstices and equinoxes to advance against it by about 11 minutes per year. Pope Gregory XIII introduced a correction in 1582; the Gregorian calendar was only slowly adopted by different nations over a period of centuries, but is today the one in most common use around the world.

[edit] History of time measurement devices

Horizontal sundial in Taganrog (1833)Main article: History of timekeeping devices
See also: Clock
A large variety of devices have been invented to measure time. The study of these devices is called horology.

An Egyptian device dating to c.1500 BC, similar in shape to a bent T-square, measured the passage of time from the shadow cast by its crossbar on a non-linear rule. The T was oriented eastward in the mornings. At noon, the device was turned around so that it could cast its shadow in the evening direction.[10]

A sundial uses a gnomon to cast a shadow on a set of markings which were calibrated to the hour. The position of the shadow marked the hour in local time.

The most accurate timekeeping devices of the ancient world were the waterclock or clepsydra, one of which was found in the tomb of Egyptian pharaoh Amenhotep I (1525–1504 BC). They could be used to measure the hours even at night, but required manual timekeeping to replenish the flow of water. The Greeks and Chaldeans regularly maintained timekeeping records as an essential part of their astronomical observations. Arab engineers in particular made improvements on the use of waterclocks up to the Middle Ages.[11]

A contemporary quartz watchThe hourglass uses the flow of sand to measure the flow of time. They were used in navigation. Ferdinand Magellan used 18 glasses on each ship for his circumnavigation of the globe (1522).[12]

Incense sticks and candles were, and are, commonly used to measure time in temples and churches across the globe. Waterclocks, and later, mechanical clocks, were used to mark the events of the abbeys and monasteries of the Middle Ages. Richard of Wallingford (1292–1336), abbot of St. Alban’s abbey, famously built a mechanical clock as an astronomical orrery about 1330.[13][14]

The English word clock probably comes from the Middle Dutch word “klocke” which is in turn derived from the mediaeval Latin word “clocca”, which is ultimately derived from Celtic, and is cognate with French, Latin, and German words that mean bell. The passage of the hours at sea were marked by bells, and denoted the time (see ship’s bells). The hours were marked by bells in the abbeys as well as at sea.

A chip-scale atomic clockClocks can range from watches, to more exotic varieties such as the Clock of the Long Now. They can be driven by a variety of means, including gravity, springs, and various forms of electrical power, and regulated by a variety of means such as a pendulum.

A chronometer is a portable timekeeper that meets certain precision standards. Initially, the term was used to refer to the marine chronometer, a timepiece used to determine longitude by means of celestial navigation. More recently, the term has also been applied to the chronometer watch, a wristwatch that meets precision standards set by the Swiss agency COSC.

The most accurate timekeeping devices are atomic clocks, which are accurate to seconds in many millions of years,[15] and are used to calibrate other clocks and timekeeping instruments. Atomic clocks use the spin property of atoms as their basis, and since 1967, the International System of Measurements bases its unit of time, the second, on the properties of caesium atoms. SI defines the second as 9,192,631,770 cycles of that radiation which corresponds to the transition between two electron spin energy levels of the ground state of the 133Cs atom.

Today, the Global Positioning System in coordination with the Network Time Protocol can be used to synchronize timekeeping systems across the globe.

Question by Artisticat: If a NECROMANCER were real, or even asking about them in books and games, what GOOD could they bring?
I’ve only read of the destruction they can bring, and I am unsure if there is any good that could come from necromancy.
Xenon and Romantic… That’s not exactly answering the question. You fail. Thanks though.

Best answer:

Answer by XenonVortex BlackOp Death EaterUsually they’re portrayed as evil sorcerers who do all kinds of creepy dark magic like raising dead corpses and that sort of stuff. By definition, a necromancer is usually involved in dark magic, so I’m not sure how there could be a “good” necromancer.

EDIT:

Oh really? Well, then excuse me, I’ll try again if that wasn’t good enough. All I’m saying is that it’s described as the “blackest of black arts”, so nothing good would really come out of it. Unless, they summon spirits to give messages to people. And to be fair to Romantic and I, your question is kind of confusing. Not all necromancers are destructive, some of them make a profession out of communicating with summoned spirits and that sort of thing.

Question by Sharry: What are some good new fantasy books besides Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings?
I’m tired of Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings. They’re old news now. I prefer books with drama, romance, fantasy, magic, adventure, and other similar traits. Can anyone reccomend some new books that I’d like please?

Best answer:

Answer by David MYou may enjoy the Maximum Ride series by James Patterson. It begins with “Maximum Ride: The Angel Experiment.” It borderlines sci-fi and fantasy – but the books are pretty good. A real “page turner”.

Question by SneakerGirl: Can someone give me some books recommendations?
I just finished Blood Promise part of the Vampire Academy series, and I need something to read before the next book. I want books similar to VA, or Hush,Hush.
Following the genre of romantic/mysterious/fantasy.
Also, include vampire in the genre. NO Twilight!

Best answer:

Answer by CHUKLZThe Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. It’s no vamp fantasy, but it is a must read that is epic and will change your life forever. So read it.